Pet Peeve
by Nin
Summary: (HY/RD?) As the Preventors chase the DNA trail of Heero Yuy, prime suspect in the murder of Relena Darlian, Quatre is forced to confront something about the woman he thought he knew when he uncovers a secret room containing the diary of Ms Relena herself.
1. Bloodbath

Pet Peeve  
  
by  
  
Nin Tendo  
  
Prologue: Bloodbath  
  
Disclaimer: I dunno...out of this whole thing, I THINK I own the plot...  
  
  
Warning: A very bloody scene, character(s) going insane, a before/after lemon, and generally not a happy fic. And, believe it or not, the story DOES include a pet peeve! (I also don't have a spellchecker)  
  
Note: This takes place about two years after Endless Waltz, so most of the characters are eighteen. The rest are...two years older...heeeeh...  
  
Pairings: HY/RP. The rest is totally up to interpretation. Have fun. n_n  
  
--An article from a local newspaper--  
  
  
Yesterday at about 1:00 AM, the residents and guests of the Peacecraft mansion woke to a blood-curdling scream of horror. The concerned friends of Miss Relena Dorlain rushed to her room immediately.  
  
What they found was a truly horrifying sight. The walls, ceiling, carpet, and windows--virtually everything is the room--had been coated in a layer of blood.  
  
In the center of Dorlain's room, Heero Yuy, rumored to be Dorlain's lover and former gundam pilot, was found, lying in a puddle of his own vomit.  
  
Catherine Bloom, a circus performer who had met Dorlain through a coworker said, "It was horrible...it seemed as if all the blood shed during the war was raining down from the ceiling...dripping... Heero was laying in the middle of it all, not a speck of blood on his body. He seemed so pale and lifeless...I thought it was his blood, but it wasn't."  
  
Doctors tested a blood sample immediately upon arrival. Sally Po, who had been trained in many medical procedures, gave a helping hand. She had this to say:  
  
"I (was there) when (a doctor) exclaimed that the blood matched Miss Relena's. I just broke out in tears...there is no possible way for a human being to survive that much blood loss without immediate medical attention."  
  
Dorlain's body is currently missing and the local police are prepared to give a reward to any person who uncovers helpful information or evidence.  
  
After searching the scene, police found a bloodied bucket and paintbrush, which have been assumed to be the means in which the blood was spread onto every available surface.  
  
They also found a used pregnancy test in the bathroom.  
  
If Dorlain had been the user of the test, she would have been pregnant upon her death. The father is unknown, and that police have not released any thoughts about the possibility that the assassin raped Miss Dorlain on a previous occasion.  
  
Even though there are no suspects in this crime and no evidence for a lead, Police Departments everywhere have vowed to bring the assassin to justice--execution to be exact.  
  
Dorlain's close friend, colony delegate Quatre Raberba Winner would like to remind everyone that, "As Relena would say, 'hatred only succeeds in bringing about more hatred'. While we would all like to see her murderer killed for his crime, Relena wouldn't want us to act so harshly. We shouldn't let this unfortunate incident shatter the peace that Relena has tried so hard to attain."  
  
Dorlain's assassination will be mourned for years to come, even surpassing that of King Peacecraft's and the colony leader, Heero Yuy's.  
  
  
  
Author's Notes:  
  
1. Well, the prologue actually pretty much sums up the entire story. Apart from a few minor details and the epilogue, you'll only be reading the personal reactions of Relena's loved ones after her violent death, and to a lesser sort, the reaction of the world itself. Not much else will happen during the rest of the chapters, but I'm estimating that there will be only slightly more than five chapters. The epilogue, which will take place sometime around the first anniversary of Relena's death, is what everyone should be looking forward to. n_n  
  
2. Any flames should be sent to nin_tendo15@hotmail.com I don't want any of my friends or family getting upset because they decided to read my reviews. I should be the only one to read them, and I cannot stress that enough.  
  
3. Yeah, this fic is really different then all of my previous fanfictions, huh? Well, let's just say that I'm trying to stretch my experience with the mystery genre, 'kay? n_n  
  
4. No character bashing in the reviews, people--you might be trying to be funny, but you'll only succeed in making me sick. Beware of retaliation. 


	2. The White Room

Pet Peeve  
  
by  
  
Nin Tendo  
  
Chapter 1 - The White Room  
  
  
~ Disclaimer ~ I don't own Gundam Wing, I'm just a crazy little teenage girl! Mwahahahaha...  
  
  
  
  
Heero, lying down on a perfectly white bed in a perfectly white room, simply stared at the perfectly white ceiling, unblinking, unmoving, unseeing. One would think he was dead, but his chest rose and fell beneath the perfectly white sheet.  
  
Trowa was almost blinded by the untainted white. It was simply unnatural for him, a hardened, bloodstained killer, to be in such a room.  
  
Heero would agree, he thought. Heero wouldn't want to be here, where the innocent gathered after being pulled in over their heads. Heero wouldn't want to be here, where his dark soul would be reflected by the merciless white...  
  
"E-excuse me," he whispered, then bolted from the room to empty his stomach in the public bathroom down the hall. He didn't dare use the ajoining bathroom, for fear that he would drown in perfection.  
  
Quatre moved to follow him, but Catherine held him back.  
  
"Trowa's your friend, but so is Heero. I'm Trowa's sister, I can take care of him. You should stay here and concentrate on Heero. You know him much better than I do."  
  
Nodding, Quatre sidestepped to let the older girl pass, then turned to look at the rest of the room's occupants. Wufei was standing near the bed, arms crossed, simply staring at his fallen comrade. Sally, who was standing beside her partner, leaned over and brushed a stray hair out of Heero's eyes. Hesitating a little, she reached out again and closed his eyelids for him.  
  
"His eyes must have been drying out," she explained, weakly.  
  
On the other side of the bed stood Duo and Hilde. Duo was just standing there, a shell of his former personality, long bangs hiding his eyes from view. He hadn't said a single word since he'd found his best friend lying on the floor in the middle of Relena's bloodstained room. Hilde looked at her companion, unsure. Her eyes were red and bloodshot from mourning her friend's death. She wasn't sure what to make out of Duo's drastic shift in character--the only explaination that occured to her was violently forced from her mind the moment it entered.  
  
Dorothy had been there earlier, Quatre realized. She had left a golden picture frame on the table behind Duo. Stepping forward and picking it up, Quatre found that it contained one of Heero and Relena's unguarded moments. If he remembered correctly, the two of them had been leaving yet another meeting concerning the progress of the Mars Terra-Forming Project when Relena's three-inch heel had met a loose rock.  
  
The photo had captured the image of Heero catching her before she fell, relief in his eyes, gratitude in her's.  
  
Quatre remembered how Dorothy had suddenly appeared beside him in a sudden burst of light--the camera's flash combined with her long shiny locks had temporarily given her the aura of an angel. "Golden memories," she had said, smirking, knowing that he had been the only person in the crowd to notice her presence.  
  
He knew that Dorothy had been here, because, at the bottom of the picture, in golden handwriting, were the words, "Golden Memories."  
  
Quatre put the picture down, fearing that he would drop it. His heart clenched in his chest and tears came to his eyes. "It hurts..." he whispered. Then, a little louder, said, "I'm sorry...I have to go..."  
  
Wufei, Sally, and Hilde turned to him and nodded. Duo, however, continued to stare at the unresponding form of his best friend.  
  
Quatre left the room, taking deep breaths to calm himself. The pain had come so suddenly...so unexpectedly. Was the true horror of the situation finally seeping into his heart?  
  
While he had been inside, he had almost expected Relena to burst in through the door, shouting Heero's name in concern...  
  
But she didn't.  
  
Because it was true.  
  
Relena was dead.  
  
Relena was...dead...  
  
"Excuse me, but do you know where I can find Mr. Quatre Raberba Winner?"  
  
Shaking himself back into reality, Quatre replied, "I'm Quatre. What do you need me for?"  
  
The doctor looked at the blond young man a little skeptically. "Aren't you a little young to be head of the Winner corporation?"  
  
Oh, good grief. Quatre knew that he looked a little young for his age, but this was ridiculous. Didn't the man watch television? "I am eighteen years old, sir. Miss Relena was younger than I am. Did you find her to be lacking in leadership skills?"  
  
The doctor backed down. "Forgive me. It's just that--"  
  
"You are forgiven," Quatre interrupted, not wanting to hear any excuses. The man standing before him had underestimated him because of his appearance. Hopefully, after this conversation, he would walk the world a little wiser.  
  
Assumptions could be fatal.  
  
Quatre threw that thought out of his head immediately. Since when...  
  
Since when did he start to think like a hardened killer?  
  
Swallowing against the bile rising in his throat, Quatre asked, "What did you want to tell me?"  
  
The doctor quickly composed himself. "Your friend, Heero Yuy, is in perfect physical condition, and we cannot help him here any further. As this hospital is very busy at this time, we must keep as many rooms free as possible."  
  
"So, you're asking me if I can...take him off your hands?"  
  
"Ah...I wouldn't quite use those exact words, but, yes, that is what I'm asking."  
  
Quatre ran a mental check of the estates he owned. If he wasn't mistaken, he owned a mansion nearby a refined mental institution.  
  
"Yes, sir. I believe that I can make the necessary arrangements," Quatre replied.  
  
"Thank you, Mr. Winner. If you could pick him up tomorrow around noon, it would be perfect."  
  
Quatre shook the older man's hand. "I'll be sure to be here, then."  
  
=================================================================================================  
  
Sally Po looked upon Heero's still form with a medical eye. He seemed a little pale and he needed a shave. He needed a bath, too, considering the state of his hair.  
  
Otherwise, he was in perfect physical condition.  
  
Perfect physical condition, and that bothered her.  
  
Maybe if he was a little bruised and battered she would find the situation a little easier to believe.  
  
She was so much better at mending a broken bone than a broken mind.  
  
But it is possible, she reasoned, looking at her partner. It IS possible to heal someone's mind. I did fix up Wufei pretty well, after all.  
  
Now that she thought of it, what did Wufei think about all this?  
  
Sally nudged Wufei with her elbow. "A penny for your thoughts, Wufei. Some people would think that you would have called him a weakling by now."  
  
Wufei sniffed in annoyance. "I really wish that 'some people' would give me the benefit of the doubt."  
  
A small smile appeared on Sally's face, but it evaporated as soon as it appeared.  
  
"Please tell me what is on your mind."  
  
Wufei remained silent for a few moments, then, after gathering his thoughts, said, "Heero was always a soldier. A weapon. During the war, that is. Over time, however, he changed. He was still a weapon, but Relena, whether she knew it or not, was the one who aimed and pulled the trigger. She was his strength. Now that his strength is gone, Heero isn't sure if he can live without it."  
  
Sally blinked. "Wufei, I... Why do you think that?"  
  
Wufei looked away from Sally's searching eyes. "Let's just say that I know what he's going through."  
  
"Wufei...?"  
  
Turning his back on her, Wufei started for the door.  
  
"Bottling up your feelings won't help at all, Wufei!" Sally shouted after him. But Wufei only paused slightly before continuing out the door.  
  
Sally sighed. "Wufei..." she whispered softly to herself. He was such a loner. She wished that he would confide in her for once, but hell would freeze over before that happened.  
  
She might as well just leave him alone to mull over his thoughts. Her presence wouldn't make much of a difference.  
  
Silence decended upon the room.  
  
And then a bark of a laugh caused Hilde and Sally to jump.  
  
"D-D-D-Duo...?" Hilde squeaked.  
  
Chuckling, Duo closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead. "Heh," he said, "what an actor he is."  
  
Sally narrowed her eyes. "And just what the hell are you talking about, Duo?!" she snapped.  
  
Duo's eyes snapped open, capturing Sally's gaze and causing the breath to catch in her throat.  
  
Those were the eyes of a madman.  
  
He laughed again, but it was hollow and empty to Sally's ears. "Don't you see?" he demanded. "Can't you see him there? That actor--he's fooling everyone! EVERYONE! Everyone except me!"  
  
Sally swallowed in a vain attempt to rehydrate her rapidly drying throat. Turning to Hilde and realizing that the shell-shocked girl wouldn't be able to help her much, Sally slowly worked her way around the hospital bed as she said, "Duo, Heero isn't fooling anyone. He's catatonic."  
  
Duo backed away and shook his head, beginning to sweat bullets as she advanced. "No!" he replied. "He's pretending--faking! A little--a little blood wouldn't do this! Not to him--not to HIM!"  
  
Passing the pale form of Hilde, Sally noticed that Duo's retreat had been stopped by the edge of the bed. "It was Relena's blood, Duo," she said, softly, hoping she wouldn't panic the cornered soldier. "He cared for her, maybe he even loved her. Either way, it was a great shock to him."  
  
The gundam pilot seemed to have found something humorous in her words, because his lips twitched into a smile that made Sally's blood run cold.  
  
"'A great shock'?" he repeated. "No, I'm pretty sure that he knew what was going on." Turning toward Heero, he simply said, "Get up."  
  
"He's not going to get up, Duo," Sally said as she edged ever closer.  
  
Completely ignoring her, Duo started to shake his best friend. "Come on, Heero," he said, "get up and tell the girls your little secret."  
  
Sally froze in her tracks as something clicked in her head.  
  
Duo's eyes darkened and he closed his hands around Heero's throat, squeezing tight as he growled, "Tell the girls just how you killed Relena, old buddy!"  
  
With a sharp cry, Hilde ran forward and tackled her roomate, freeing Heero from his grip and knocking over the bedside table. There was a crash as a golden framed picture hit the floor.  
  
Sally was shaken out of her shock by the sound and she screamed, "DOCTOR! HELP!" even as she ran over to aid Hilde in wrestling Duo to the ground.  
  
Just as she arrived, Duo's elbow snapped back, catching Hilde in the eye. The girl gasped and backed away, holding a hand to her face, providing Sally with more room to pin Duo to the bed.  
  
Not quite giving up, Duo struggled without pause to free himself. However, Sally's grip held long enough for help to arrive.  
  
The doctors managed, with their combined strength, to strap Duo down onto a stretcher.  
  
However, the sedative wasn't very fast-acting and screams of, "HE KILLED HER!!! HE KILLED HER!!!" could be plainly heard by the two females remaining in Heero Yuy's room.  
  
Sally took in a shaky breath and walked over to the trembling Hilde to check out her injuries.  
  
The broken glass had given them both minor wounds, but Sally was more concerned about the already developing black eye. "You're going to have your work cut out for you when you try to cover this up," Sally whispered, attempting to bring out any semblance of humor in an otherwise humorless situation.  
  
But it had quite the negative effect, Sally realized, as Hilde burst into tears.  
  
The older woman encircled her troubled friend in her arms. She didn't need to ask what the matter was, so only whispered reassurances of 'it's going to be alright' left her lips, even as she wondered if things would ever be alright again.  
  
"I knew..." Hilde sobbed, "I knew that he was going to beak down like this one day. I knew it ever since he started to open up to me. But I was a coward, and pretended that it was just my imagination, and now..."  
  
Sally continued to hold the crying girl, losing track of time as she listened to her heartaches. When she finally calmed down, Sally carefully led her from the room. Broken glass was virtually everywhere.  
  
Looking back one last time, Sally was chilled to the bone when she saw Heero's glazed, vacant eyes solemly staring up at the ceiling. Then she left the room, with only a slightly faster pace.  
  
  
  
Author's Notes:  
  
1. If you noticed a little 'plothole', I assure you, it was meant to be there! (please don't mention it in a review or something--don't want to give the rest of the readers a head start, do you? n_n)  
  
2. I'm sorry if I offended Duo-lovers! After all, I am a Duo-lover as well! I only do this because I luv him! (cough)  
  
3. I also apologize for the so-called 'action scene'. It never was, and never shall be my genre. Oh, well. This is supposed to be a dramatic ficcie, anyway. n_n 


	3. Golden Girl

Pet Peeve  
  
by  
  
Nin Tendo  
  
  
Chapter 2 ~ Golden Girl  
  
~ Disclaimer ~ The true owners are Japanese. I'm Canadian, ehhh? n.n  
  
==========  
  
The sun bore down upon Quatre as he left the hospital, driving his troubled mind into the throbbing pulses of a migrane. He rubbed his temples in vain and squinted against the sunlight in an attempt to locate his limousine so he could return home and attempt to relax.  
  
Instead, Quatre found his eyes resting on a slightly smaller version of the vehicle, painted a shimmering gold. He recognized the girl at the wheel. Their eyes met, and Quatre realized that she had been waiting for him--it wasn't just a coincidence. His curiousity overcame him, overpowering common sense--despite current events, he still had a job to do.  
  
Quatre searched the street again. Locating his escort, he hurried over and gave him instructions to go back to the office and inform his secretary that he would be unavailiable for the rest of the day's meetings.  
  
The chaffeur nodded and drove off, leaving Quatre to stare at the golden limo, pondering what the girl would want to say to him. It wasn't as if they regularily socialized together, after all. Shoving past all uncertainty, he approached the vehicle, squinting against the glare. He stopped beside the driver's side and waited for her to roll down the window before asking, "Did you want to talk, Dorothy?"  
  
She smirked at him, and tucked her long, golden-blond tresses behind her ears. "I just thought that you would be in the right mindset for a nice little drive."  
  
It suddenly struck Quatre that Dorothy might know something about Relena's assassination. Without another word, he hurried over to the passenger side and pulled himself in.  
  
This would be the first time he had ever been completely alone with her since they'd met on Libra. He had seen her since then, but they had always been surrounded by other people, at parties and other social events. For the first year since Libra, she had avoided him completely, feeling far to awkward to speak to the boy she had stabbed. But something had happened in her eighteenth year that stole away her insecurity and embarassment around him, and they had participated in numerous short conversations. Like the time she had taken the picture in the golden frame.  
  
They didn't speak for a mile or two, but Quatre was grateful for the solitude--the quiet was just what he needed to overcome the pounding migrane he had suffered through. Soon after purging himself of the pain, however, his curiousity came into play once again, eating at his patience until he couldn't stand the silence for another moment.  
  
"Are you still studying photography, Dorothy?" he asked, initiating conversation.  
  
She looked surprised--she hadn't told him of her brief interest in photography--but then she smiled. "Oh, the picture. Should I take that as a compliment, Mr. Winner?"  
  
"Yes," Quatre replied, "you are very talented. But, please use my first name, Dorothy--I've always thought 'Mr. Winner' suited my father better."  
  
"Hmm," Dorothy wondered. "I'll tell you the same thing I told Miss Relena--I simply cannot. Even after the wars--I was but a lowly servant when compared to the Vice-Foreign Minister."  
  
The way she emphasized on the title confirmed Quatre's suspicions. Dorothy DID know something, and taking her subtle hinting into consideration, she was waiting for him to make the first move.  
  
Quatre swallowed back his nerves and dove into the unknown. "Dorothy, what sort of relationship did you have with Relena?"  
  
The way her eyes twinkled gave Quatre the impression that she was the one ensnaring him in her trap, instead of him interrogating her. "You could say that I was her confidant."  
  
"Her 'confidant'?" Quatre repeated, hoping for clarification.  
  
"Yes," Dorothy replied, nodding. "She sometimes spoke to me of things--her concerns, hopes, dreams, and all the rest."  
  
Quatre was practically on the edge of his seat. "Had she been acting strangely for the last few days before..." He trailed off, unable to finish the sentence. The wound was still just too fresh.  
  
"Before she was murdered?" Dorothy supplied. If she felt any grief, it didn't show on her face or in her voice. "Yes, although, her odd behavior began almost a month ago--you remember her sudden bout of sickness--morning sickness, I suppose, considering the new evidence. Not to mention those nasty mood swings. How she managed to keep that from the public, I'll never know.  
  
"But if you're wondering if she'd shown any signs of knowing about her future demise, I can only tell you this: Relena was plaqued by paranoia something awful in the week leading up to her death--you of all people should have noticed; you were there that weekend--it was almost as if she KNEW someone was planning to end her life. Strange, how she didn't mention anything to her security, don't you think? Silly girl--he's probably chopped her up and fed her to the pigs by now."  
  
An awful little smile spread across her lips, and Quatre couldn't help but feel completely disgusted with the woman in that moment.  
  
"How can you talk so casually about Relena's death?!" he spat out.  
  
Dorothy slammed the brakes, and Quatre noticed that they'd stopped right in front of his mansion. She flinched and curled away from him at his words, losing an entire year of progress as she once again became that scared little girl that shied away from everything compassionate.  
  
Refusing to meet his glare, Dorothy whispered, "I am not a kind person, Mr. Winner."  
  
Quatre found that he could not disagree, and the burning lump of hatred in his chest drove him to slam the door on his way out as he left the car without another word.  
  
He couldn't even bear to look at the golden limo as it disappeared from view.  
  
But if he'd looked, he would have noticed Dorothy smirk at his retreating form--a smile born of secrets yet to be revealed.  
  
===================  
  
Wufei Chang knelt at the stone monument embedded in the ground at the very center of the city's graveyard. He'd been there once before, during yesterday's service, but then, so had the rest of the city and then some. The site was still choked with roses.  
  
The freshly upturned earth belied the true nature of a grave--there was no body buried here, only gifts given too late.  
  
Wufei let his fingers trace the feathers of the angelic figure. But it was not the dearly departed young politician that was on his mind. No--he thought of a girl named Meilan.  
  
His earlier words surfaced again in his mind. "He was always a weapon, but she was the one who aimed and pulled the trigger.  
  
"Nataku," he whispered. "Have I made you proud?"  
  
Unlike Relena Darlian, she had been blessed with a proper burial. Her body had been laid to rest beneath the soil of colony A0206. But his home had been destroyed in the war, leaving no stone monument, no body, nowhere to sit and remember the girl ruled by the justice she had believed so deeply in.  
  
Relena's body had not yet been recovered, and so, Wufei considered this grave site to be for all those lost in the war for peace, no matter how indirect their role had been.  
  
Darlian's soul wouldn't hold it against him, of that he was sure.  
  
"Nataku," he began again, "I brought your justice to the earth and now the entire Earth Sphere is united in peace. But I allowed the destruction of our home and people. Are you angry with me? I hope that you are able to rest peacefully now, nonetheless."  
  
He paused, hesitant. He had thought, and said the previous words on many occassions following the war, after the he had self-destructed Altron Gundam, but the next words would be spoken for the first time.  
  
"We did not spend much time together, Nataku, and we never really got along until the end, but..." He closed his eyes and forced the words out. "But, even though we were forced into it, I will never regret the time we spent together. If you hadn't died that day, I know that I would have grown to someday...to someday truly love you."  
  
Thus, Wufei Chang left the grave with a slightly lighter heart, finally able to accept the death of his wife, Meilan--or rather, "Nataku", as he called her--and more importantly, able to release the pent up emotions and begin to move on with his life. It would be quite a while before he would acknowledge it, but Wufei Chang was ready to love again.  
  
=================  
  
"Are you feeling alright, now, Trowa?" Catherine asked, as she drove her younger brother back to the circus, their home.  
  
Staring out the window at the darkening sky, Trowa replied, "I don't know why I reacted that way. It was just...the room was too pure. I felt like...like a stain. I wasn't welcome in that place."  
  
Catherine couldn't come up with a soothing response, so she slowed the car and placed her right hand on his small, narrow shoulder.  
  
Unable to respond with speech, Trowa reached up and placed his hand over her own, squeezing ever so slightly.  
  
Does he feel that the war has tainted him? Catherine wondered. Has he already forgotten all the good his actions allowed?  
  
He was just so mistaken. She simply had to do something about this.  
  
=================  
  
Sally wearily laid down on her couch, rubbing her eyes and yawning. It was nearly midnight--it had taken hours to calm down Hilde and get her to rest. The poor girl wouldn't stop blaming herself for Duo's condition.  
  
She had finally fallen asleep nearly two hours ago.  
  
Duo's words had caused Sally to continuously second-guess herself, question her beliefs, and tear down the walls of rationality.  
  
Shouts of, "HE KILLED HER! HE KILLED HER!" echoed soulessly within the limitations of her human mind.  
  
Could it be possible that Heero had been the one to kill Relena?  
  
But that was crazy. What could have driven him to do such a thing--and in such a brutal way?  
  
Crazy. Duo had clearly lost the luxury of rational thought. Heero would never, ever, even consider doing that.  
  
Wait.  
  
Sally remembered shutting Heero's eyes. She had been concerned that they would dry out. Not to mention that his unseeing gaze had been beginning to unnerve her.  
  
But his eyes had been open when she'd left.  
  
Was Duo right? Had Heero been...faking?  
  
No, that was just crazy. Insane.  
  
His eyes must have been shaken open by Duo's violent outburst. There was no other explanation.  
  
No other rational explanation.  
  
Sally sat up and resumed her pacing.  
  
==================  
  
The screams began at midnight.  
  
"Oh, for God's sake," the nurse cursed, reminded once again why she hated the night shift at the loony bin.  
  
Sighing, she pushed her cart to the offending room, unlocked the door, and carefully entered the room.  
  
She switched on the light and was relieved to see that the patient was still confined to his bed. She didn't want to think about the last time a nurse had found herself locked in a maximum secruity room with an escaped madman.  
  
He continued to scream at the top of his lungs even after she'd entered the room, struggling against his bonds. He probably would have chewed his arms off if they'd been within reach of his teeth.  
  
"What is it now, Mr. Maxwell," she asked, wearily, as she readied yet another dose of sedatives.  
  
He screamed for a moment more, then shouted, "IDIOTS! YOU'RE ALL FOOLS! HE KILLED HER AND NOW HE'S GOING TO GET AWAY!"  
  
"That's nice, Mr. Maxwell," she sighed, rolling her eyes and jabbing him with the needle.  
  
"Murderer, murderer..." Duo chanted, until the sedatives took their toll, and he fell deep asleep.  
  
===============  
  
The streets at midnight were not completely deserted that night, but people were few and far between.  
  
Most citizens avoided these streets at night. All wars may have ended, but mysterious disappearances and strangers and murder were still quite a threat. And wasn't there a psychopath out there that had already taken the life of the most adored politician of all time?  
  
However, there was no trouble on the streets tonight, to the relief of those forced to test the darkened night. Just one odd occurance, actually.  
  
A young man held his date just a little closer as his eyes fell upon a man wearing nothing but a hospital robe, carrying a broken picture frame, bleeding from cuts made by glass against his fingers. His eyes were glazed and unseeing, and the way he walked suggested a lack of conscious thought.  
  
Man, that guy looks like his world has come to an end, the young man thought, in sympathy.  
  
But then, perhaps that is what Heero Yuy had intended in the first place--for his presence to gain sympathy instead of suspicion.  
  
  
  
  
Author's Notes:  
  
Just one thought: This story is just so much fun to write! n_n 


	4. Trail of Blood

Pet Peeve  
  
by  
  
Nin Tendo  
  
  
Chapter 3 - Trail of Blood  
  
  
Disclaimer: I wish I owned Gundam Wing...then I could tax fanfiction authors for the right to write about my characters...cool....  
  
=======================  
  
The space shuttle had arrived on Earth at approximately 5:30 AM that morning.  
  
Half an hour later, a taxi pulled up to a hospital and two people exited, thanking the cab driver for his service.  
  
The man with long platinum blond hair did not exactly know why his need to enter the building was so strong. He did not care much for the younger man he intended to visit, a sentiment that only burned harsher at the thought of how that young man could have prevented the death of Relena Darlian, had he been more alert. He did not know how he would react when he stepped inside the room, but then, that was one of the reasons he'd asked his partner to accompany him.  
  
The woman with short dark hair similarily did not know how the sight of Heero Yuy in a catatonic state would affect her. But she did know, as the most even-tempered of the two, she would have to remain strong enough to restrain her partner if he reacted violently.  
  
Zechs Merquise and Lucretia Noin would never know how they would have reacted to Heero Yuy in a catatonic state. When they went to ask a nurse which room he was in, they certainly did not expect her to ask them if they knew where he was.  
  
=======================  
  
Quatre Raberba Winner was roused awake by the phone ringing at 6:30 AM.  
  
Sitting up with irritation born of half-an-hours loss of sleep, he had to will the weary anger from his voice when he picked up the phone.  
  
"Yes?"  
  
But his efforts were unnecessary, as the person on the line was simply too furious to recognize the 'subtle' difference between patience and anger.  
  
"Quatre Raberba Winner, I demand to know where Heero Yuy is!" roared an all too familiar voice.  
  
"Zechs Merquise?!" Quatre exclaimed, but his surprise was soon replaced by sadness. "I didn't think the news would travel to Mars so fast--but Heero really didn't have anything to do with--"  
  
"I know the details, Winner! Why do you think I came here to see for myself?!" Zechs interrupted.  
  
For the first time during the conversation, Quatre looked at the caller-ID. Zechs was calling from the hospital! Remembering the other man's opening words, a horrible idea suddenly struck Quatre. "Wait. You're asking me where he is? He's not there?"  
  
"Didn't I already say that?!" Zechs exploded.  
  
"I'll be there in ten minutes," Quatre replied, urgently. He hung up and dressed quickly. Rushing out of his room, he saw that his secretary was just arriving.  
  
"Please cancel all my morning meetings!" he called over to her. "Wait--better change that to all of todays meetings! Something very important has come up!"  
  
As Quatre rushed out the door and sped away in his car, the secretary sighed and wondered if she should suggest to her employer to take a weeks--no, a months leave. The loss of one of his best friends and the hospitalization of another had taken its toll on him. What he needed to do now was rest, even though a vacation would do little to slow him down anyway.  
  
========================  
  
Quatre rushed thought the hospital corriders, breathing heavily. Already, Heero's room was in view, and the place was literally crawling with reporters and police officers. The doctor he'd spoken to the day before spotted him coming down the hall, and was there to shield him from the onslaught of reporters who recognized the young colony delegate.  
  
"The police received a phone call last night about someone on the streets looking like he'd just walked out of a hospital," the doctor shouted over the roar of reporters with a cause. "We were the last hospital to be informed, and considering the size of the building, the fact that we're understaffed, and how many people we're currently treating--well, it took hours to realize that Heero Yuy wasn't in his room, and another few to confirm that he was no longer in the building."  
  
Finally entering the room itself, Quatre noted that, indeed, the bed was empty, although very neatly made, and the picture formerly beside the bed was now missing.  
  
Zechs Merquise and Lucretia Noin stood by the window, staring down at the ground. Quatre couldn't see with the angle they were to him, but their posture suggested that they were holding hands.  
  
"He took the picture and escaped out the window?" Quatre asked the doctor.  
  
"Actually, yes and no," the doctor replied. "He did take the picture, but he couldn't have possibly escaped out the window--this is the top floor!"  
  
Quatre remembered Duo telling him a story about how Heero had jumped out of a military hospital the day he'd arrived on Earth and survived. If Duo hadn't been exaggerating, that building had been taller than this one, and it had been built atop a high cliff to boot. Heero had escaped with a broken leg and a few bad scrapes, but it was the parachute he'd deployed at the last second that had saved his life. But could he have survived a fall from a slightly smaller building, without the cliff and sans parachute? At the very least, he would have been bleeding and injured--coming across someone in that state at night would have earned a 911 call, not a concerned inquiry to the local police station. He couldn't have jumped.  
  
Quatre looked again to where the picture had been, and was surprised to hear a crunch when he walked over. Leaning over to investigate, he found a few small pieces of glass.  
  
"The picture fell on the floor?" Quatre inquired.  
  
"Yes, right after you left. You missed quite the event, actually. I guess the nurse missed a few shards."  
  
Quatre was too absorbed in his investigation to recognize the underlying meaning of the doctor's words. Only hearing the affirmative, he had rose up again to inspect the table. There, near the front rightmost corner, was a small smear of blood.  
  
"He cut himself on the frame!" Quatre exclaimed.  
  
"The police have already checked that," the doctor said. "The DNA matched with one of the women that were here yesterday."  
  
Quatre felt a sigh slowly work its way out his body. The blood wasn't Heero's...but maybe he had cut himself after all, just not deep enough to initiate an immediate blood flow...  
  
"Have the police checked for blood in the hallways?" Quatre asked, hopefully.  
  
"Yes, but they didn't find a thing," the doctor answered. "Not very surprising, though, considering just how many people bleed on these floors. And, unlike the nurse who attempted to clean this room," the doctor added with a frown, "our janitors are extremely efficient."  
  
A trail of blood would have been a godsend, Quatre thought, feeling as if his head were about to implode. But of course, finding Heero Yuy wouldn't be so easy.  
  
Giving up on his search for clues that the police had already collected and catalogued, Quatre crossed the room to stand next to Zechs by the window. Yes, he was holding tightly onto Noin's hand, but the squeeze seemed anything but romantic, with Zechs leaning far out the open window, pale, looking almost ready to vomit.  
  
"It was Heero, wasn't it?" Zechs asked, in a voice virtually deviod of emotion. "Heero killed my sister."  
  
For a moment, Quatre, for the life of him, could not come up with an arguement for Heero's innocence. But, soon enough, he found the last shred of hope. "No. He took the picture. He...took the picture."  
  
Zechs only continued to stare down, out the window, his gaze locked. He didn't even seem to hear the younger man.  
  
Lucretia, who had been initially concerned with the thought that his sister's death would bring about self-destructive urges in her partner, suddenly found something deeply disturbing in the way Zechs had spoken, and the way he leaned out the window no longer struck her as suicidal, but...transfixed.  
  
Quatre caught the sudden horror in Noin's eyes, and instantly recognized its meaning. As one, they leaned far out the window. As one, they located the point of Zechs' attention.  
  
A bloody handprint.  
  
On the windowsill below.  
  
And another beneath.  
  
And another.  
  
And another...  
  
====================  
  
Sally hadn't shown up for her shift at Preventors HQ that morning--a fact that was very disturbing to Wufei.  
  
He wasn't concerned for her job--no, Une was very sympathetic. She had also been somewhat close to Relena Darlian (a shocking friendship considering past events), and to a lesser sort, Heero Yuy.  
  
In fact, Wufei wasn't quite sure why he was worrying himself over the absense of his partner--the woman had shown many times over that she could take care of herself. So why exactly was he checking up on her?  
  
He shook his head at his own thoughts and actions before knocking on the door.  
  
A few minutes later, the door opened to reveal a bedraggled Sally Po. "Oh, Wufei," she greeted, "it's you. What's the occassion?"  
  
"You missed your shift," he stated simply.  
  
Her head shot to the side to stare at the clock. Indeed, she had missed her shift. Placing her head in her hands, she groaned, "Oh, Une is going to kill me."  
  
"You've already been excused," Wufei answered. "What I want to know is what caused your momentary lapse of responsibility."  
  
"Oh, you don't...know?" she whispered.  
  
"What happened?" Wufei demanded.  
  
"After you left yesterday. Duo...well, he just lost it."  
  
"'Lost it'?" Wufei repeated. "Duo Maxwell never had it in the first place." It was rare for him to be in a joking mood, and even now the pun tasted bitter on his lips.  
  
"No," Sally contradicted, pulling him inside her apartment and closing the door. "I mean, he really lost it. He was sent to a mental institution yesterday afternoon."  
  
"Are you serious?" Wufei inquired, disbelieving. "What in God's name happened back there?"  
  
"Well, um..." Sally's eyes rested on the floor. "He accused Heero of killing Relena, then attempted to strangle him."  
  
"No wonder they sent him to the loony bin," Wufei replied. "That's completely insane. Heero would never kill Relena."  
  
But his eyes had been open when she'd left... "How can you be so sure of that? Insane or not, Duo must have had some reason to believe that Heero...did it."  
  
"How can you doubt Heero?" Wufei retorted. "You saw as well as I did, the expression on his face whenever he looked at her--he tried to hide it, but he was deeply, deeply in love with that woman. Unless he's been afflicted with a mental illness as severe as the one Une suffered through so long--I couldn't even consider the possibility."  
  
Sally bit her lip and nodded. Yes, Heero had been prone to suicidal behaviour when they'd first met, but he had overcome that and had shown no signs of any other mental illness since.  
  
But the facts still nagged at her. She had noticed nothing odd about Duo's behaviour prior to yesterday afternoon. Could she not even trust her own perception now?  
  
The door to Sally's room creaked open and a weary Hilde stepped outside, gingerly touching her discolored eye. It was nearly swollen shut. "Sally," she asked, quietly, "can you please show me where the bathroom is?" She looked over to the front door, noticing the new arrival. "Oh, hello, Wufei." She attempted to smile, but it came out sickly and tears gathered in her uninjured eye.  
  
Wufei nodded to her, too shocked at her appearance to greet her verbally, then grabbed Sally by the upper arm and pulled her down to his height before she could show Hilde the way. "Who did that to her eye?" he whispered fiercely into her ear.  
  
"Duo," she mouthed in reply, unable to voice her answer, even if she had been planning to.  
  
Wufei felt a sudden, unexpected urge to comfort the young woman who seemed to be carrying a nearly unbearable burden. Perhaps it was because he'd released his own burden so soon ago.  
  
"I'll avenge you..." he said, hesitantly, "...when they release him from the institution."  
  
Unwilling to sacrifice himself to the awkwardness of the situation, Wufei released Sally's arm and swiftly exited the room.  
  
Sally's apartment was silent for a few moments. But soon after, the tips of Hilde's lips quirked up in nearly uncontainable mirth. It was the thought of Duo sulking with a newly formed black eye--an image she could nearly taste and touch, it was so real.  
  
But it was an image that she could only associate with the old Duo, the one who hadn't suffered a mental breakdown.  
  
As quickly as the laughter came, it retreated, replaced with a deep anguish that formed sobs in her throat and spilled tears from her eyes.  
  
Sally rushed over and embraced the young woman, leading her to the bathroom. But she could not comfort her any furthur, because there was an urgent knocking on her front door. She removed her razors from the bathroom and dropped them on the coffee table on her way to the door.  
  
"Wufei?" she asked, surprised, when she saw that it was him again, standing in her doorway.  
  
But this time, he was very, very pale, and he held a newspaper in his hand.  
  
He swallowed, then announced, "Your paper is here."  
  
Sally slowly removed the newspaper from Wufei's quaking hand, turning it so she could read the headline.  
  
Her face joined in Wufei's lack of hue.  
  
Heero was...missing...  
  
=========================  
  
Lady Une slowly and deliberately placed the phone back into its holder, and pushed the daily newspaper out of her immediate viewing range. The news was almost too much for her to bear.  
  
But she could not surrender to despair, not while Mariemaia remained in her custody. The poor girl had been nearly unconsolable after she'd learned of Relena's death. If Une broke down now, it would completely destroy her adopted daughter.  
  
After being released from the hospital, Mariemaia's fondness of Relena had grown into near worship. There was nothing that could put her down from someday becoming a politician as great as Relena had been, not even her less than savory past as a figurehead in a shortlived dictatorship.  
  
And it wasn't only Relena's death that had caused her grief, but Heero's admission into the hospital as well. To tell the truth, she had something of a crush on him, a sentiment born when he had pointed his unloaded gun at her dying body and said he'd end her pain.  
  
Lady Une was concerned. How would this news affect her?  
  
She sighed, and called her secretary into her office.  
  
"Yes, Ma'am?"  
  
Une took a deep breath. "Please inform our agents of our temporary alliance with the regular police force. We have a warrent to arrest Heero Yuy for the assassination of Relena Darlian."  
  
  
  
  
  
Author's Notes.  
  
1. Mwahaha....hahahaha.....HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! (I think I'll be going to bed now...food poisoning makes me morbid...mmmmmmm)  
  
2. Okay, seriously now. I didn't have writer's block. I think it would be impossible to get writer's block with this story. It practically wrote itself in my head. Nay, it was the fact that I was barely able to find time to sit down with my notebook and write the darned thing. And then to get enough time to type it up on the computer...gaaaaaaah. I actually almost finished the rough copy for the next chapter before I finally typed up this one. It's 1:30 now....  
@,@ *hoot*  
  
3. Hehe. The handprint scene disturbed my sister...(guffaw) 


	5. Rusty Buckets

Pet Peeve  
  
by  
  
Nin Tendo  
  
Chapter 4 - Rusty Buckets  
  
~Disclaimer~ As if Gundam Wing would be so popular if I owned it O_o  
  
There were no words able to console Trowa, this Catherine knew. It wouldn't matter what she said, or how often, because the effects of his fighting in the war would continue on. There would still be war orphans on the streets, widows and widowers living in poverty, and maimed soldiers unable to use their arms and legs, if they had them at all.  
  
Even if she told him everyday, "You've done much more good than bad," his eyes would always see the still dying victims of the war--a war that he'd helped to initiate.  
  
So words were not going to solve the problem.  
  
Because actions would always speak louder than words.  
  
Thus, only action would help him to understand.  
  
She found him watching one of the lions sleeping. It had finished eating the food that Trowa had given it nearly an hour ago, and was now sleeping peacefully.  
  
He had that blank look on his face, the one he had whenever he thought about the destruction he'd caused.  
  
"Trowa," she said.  
  
He abruptly snapped out of it, turning to face and greet his sister, then turned his head away again, as if he was feeling ashamed over his inability to reply through his now dry throat.  
  
"Trowa," Catherine said again, "I found something that might help you to atone for the bad things that you feel you've done. I know that by doing this, you'll feel much better about yourself."  
  
She walked over to his side and held up the newspaper she'd brought for him to see. She'd been shocked by the front page--Heero had gone missing and was now a person of interest regarding Relena's murder--but when she'd flipped through the rest of the paper to see if there was any more information, she'd come across a certain section completely by accident.  
  
"Volunteer service?" Trowa read aloud, gently taking the paper from her.  
  
Catherine smiled slightly. "I skimmed through it a little. There's the soup kitchen, salvation army, and food bank, among others. I think there's even help needed at the local orphanage. A lot of people need help to help all the poor and unfortunate people in this world."  
  
Trowa shut his eyes and sighed, closing and folding the newspaper. "Of course, I won't be able to help anyway. We live in a travelling circus."  
  
Catherine shook her head. "Trowa, we usually stay in a location for a week or more. That's plenty of time to take part."  
  
A barely perceptable smile crept its way onto Trowa's face as he opened his eyes. "You're right, Catherine. And people need help all over the world."  
  
"And there are volunteer services all over the world, too," Catherine replied, feeling a burden being removed from her shoulders. "Maybe we should sit down somewhere and look through that more closely."  
  
"Hm," Trowa hummed in reply, looking down at the paper. Then he did a double take. "What?!" he exclaimed, in a whisper, when a triple check refused to change the headline.  
  
Catherine inhaled sharply. Why hadn't she thought to remove the front page before coming to find him? Now it would be impossible to shelter her little brother from the truth.  
  
"Heero..." Trowa whispered. "He's...missing?"  
  
"Yes," Catherine choked out. "The police are calling him a 'person of interest', but that's just the politically correct term for a suspect lacking incriminating evidence."  
  
"He...he didn't..." Trowa stuttered, the paper shaking in his grip. "He couldn't have....I can't believe it..."  
  
"Trowa," Catherine replied, feeling the strange urge to defend a man she barely knew, "running off doesn't automatically make him the guy that...did it. He probably woke up in the middle of the night in a strange place, and his military instinct took over. Or maybe he was just confused. Maybe he just wanted to be alone for a while."  
  
Trowa perked up as she listed the alternate reasons, daring to hope. "You really...believe those things?"  
  
"I can't accept that Heero killed Relena. I just can't...." Catherine replied. She was unable to believe it, with the secret she protectively guarded with every moral she'd ever learned. A secret that she felt would prove Heero's innocence, were it ever revealed--but a secret that would damage so much more than what it would heal.  
  
She was sworn to secrecy by a person that would never be able to relieve her from it.  
  
Relena Dorlain.  
  
=================================================================================================  
  
Quatre had returned to his mansion at around noon, only to find a note from his secretary, stating that he was to take a month's vacation. She had already cancelled all of his meetings and sceduled events during the time period and had informed everyone concerned, leaving him no choice other than to surrender to the suggestion (or to hire a new secretary, which he did not want to go through all over again. The last time had been much too embarrassing, thank you very much.)  
  
But the thought of a vacation did very little to relax him. In fact, it actually agitated him. With the murder investigation now under the Preventor's jurisdiction, the matter was effectively out of his hands--there would be no evidence within his grasp that the Preventors could not locate first.  
  
Looking ahead into the future, all Quatre could see was himself sitting before the television, waiting for news updates.  
  
The sense of worthlessness would drive him absolutely insane.  
  
So, instead of giving into that helplessness early on, Quatre picked up a book that he'd never been able to begin, and proceeded to crack open the cover.  
  
But he was unable to get past the first sentence. When he reached the first period, he found himself thinking of a women's fertility cycle, remembering that a missed period meant a pregnancy. And thoughts of pregnancy immediately caused Relena's death to resurface in his mind, reintroducing the horror of such a violent act, and the speculation of who had done the unmentionable--how could someone rape and murder the princess of peace, the destroyer of destruction, the bringer of hope for the future?  
  
And the only name that popped into his head, no matter how hard he tried to force away the possibility...was Heero Yuy.  
  
Heero Yuy.  
  
Heero Yuy, who had loved the girl more than he had ever loved at all. Quatre had seen it in his eyes on more than one occassion.  
  
Heero Yuy, who could have easily forced his will upon her--she wouldn't have resisted. Who could have easily triggered his vomit reflex by shoving his finger down his throat, lie down in the gore, and slow down his heart beat and brain activity, giving the impression of innocent unconsciousness.  
  
Heero Yuy, the AWOL prime suspect. Wasn't that how it always was in the movies?  
  
His rapidly deteriorating thoughts were interrupted by the phone.  
  
"Hello?" he asked, perhaps a little too eagerly after throwing the book across the room and sprinting for the phone.  
  
"Quatre, I need to ask you a favor," said Sally.  
  
"What is it?" Quatre inquired. "Is there any news about Heero?"  
  
Sally sighed. "Nothing that the whole world doesn't know already. They're crying out for Heero's blood on channel seven. Nobody cares about 'innocent until proven guilty' anymore. Even with the lack of conclusive evidence, the police had an arrest warrant in less than half an hour."  
  
"It's the way its always been," Quatre replied with a sigh. "What is the favor you'd like me to do?"  
  
Sally sighed in reply. "I need you to keep Hilde company while Wufei and I participate in the investigation."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Une called and asked us if we could--"  
  
"No. Before that. What's wrong with Hilde?"  
  
There was a stunned silence on the other end. "Oh, Jesus, what was I thinking? Of course you wouldn't have known..."  
  
"Known? Known what, Sally?" Quatre asked, the familiar feeling of dread unsettling his stomach.  
  
And so, Sally told Quatre the news about Duo Maxwell's mental breakdown.  
  
=================================================================================================  
  
The ride without a clear destination was a subdued one.  
  
Neither Hilde or Quatre had wanted to impose themselves upon Sally's establishment any longer than necessary, and returning to Hilde's temporary Earth residence was completely out of the question.  
  
"Is there any place you'd like to go?" Quatre finally asked, wondering if maybe he should take her to his mansion instead of wasting a fortune on gasoline.  
  
Hilde, who had been staring out the passenger side window, started at Quatre's sudden words. Taking a moment to register the words of her companion, she hesitantly answered, "Yes, there is...but I don't know if it would be possible..."  
  
"What is it Hilde?" Quatre asked, as gently as he was able. "I might be on vacation, but I still have the ability to make impossible things possible."  
  
"I want to visit Duo," Hilde answered, in a whispered burst of air.  
  
"Duo?" Quatre repeated in surprise, almost forgetting that he was operating a vehicle. "Hilde, are you sure you..." He trailed off, staring at her blackened eye.  
  
"I feel responsible," replied Hilde, gaining confidence quickly. "I know it's not my fault, but I still feel guilty for not doing something a long time ago, when I first noticed his odd behaviour. I just want to see him. I want to find out if he's okay. If they're taking good care of him."  
  
Quatre remained silent for a moment.  
  
"Please," Hilde whispered.  
  
"Okay," Quatre replied.  
  
=================================================================================================  
  
"Have you ever shaken a can of pop and opened it?" asked the chipper old doctor. A strange answer, considering the previous question.  
  
"How does that have anything to do with Duo Maxwell's condition?" Quatre demanded. Hilde had reached for his hand upon stepping into the insitution. She was squeezing it hard, now.  
  
But Quatre's sour mood did nothing to damper the spirit of the abnormally cheerful psychologist. "Everything. Nothing," the doctor shrugged off. "From what information I've gathered, this young man had been awfully shaken up by certain events in his early childhood and teenage years. He had a sustancial amount of pain bottled up inside his soul. He'd held it inside for years--until now, when a recent event dug deep enough to crack the protective shell erected to isolate the sorrow. That crack was enough for the shelter to collapse completely and an abnormal amount of emotion swept through his system all at once, causing his irrational behaviour yesterday afternoon."  
  
"Like a can of soda," Hilde whispered, just loud enough to be heard.  
  
The doctor nodded. "And, like an erupting can of soda, the pain was released from his system exremely quickly, and I feel that his internal turmoil will settle in no time at all. With help from our rapidly improving chemical imbalance research and medication, I am very pleased to announce that Mr. Maxwell is nearly himself again and will be able to be released within a month."  
  
Hilde released a soft, happy gasp.  
  
"A month?" Quatre asked, disbelieving.  
  
"Maybe so," the doctor replied, thoughtfully, "but then, he's made such wonderful progress since this morning that I suspect it may be much sooner than that." He looked over, and noticed the needy look on Hilde's face. "He wouldn't stop talking since he'd woken up this morning, but even so, he was only able to tell us about the horrors he'd witnessed during his early years. He remembers the details with such accurate detail that I have to pity the young man. It was no wonder he reacted so violently. He fainted of emotional exhaustion just after noon, so I'm expecting him to wake up soon, if you would like to see him. From experience, I know that speaking to loved ones is much more theraputic than to someone who met you through government controlled media." He utilized a secretive wink and turned to lead them to their destination.  
  
=================================================================================================  
  
Emotional exhaustion wasn't something Duo was experienced with. He had collapsed from physical exhaustion many a time, but this...being incapable of thinking properly, confusing the simplest of concepts, paranoia, delusions...his mind felt fuzzy, like static on television, and it drained him, mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually--much worse than his previous description of the words, "I'm tired".  
  
When he had awoken that morning, a flood of surpressed memories had flooded his brain--the breaking of a dam. The tsunami raged in his mind for the few moments before a doctor entered his room, and the storm left his lips, taking his consciousness with it only hours later--or however long it had been, he hadn't really been able to tell.  
  
Now, as he returned to consciousness once more, the flurry of emotion was safely tucked away in the corner of his mind for the moment. He was grateful. He could have accidently released sensitive information in his desperation to reconcile.  
  
Sensitive information, like what he'd seen that night at the Peacecraft manor. The night after the party. Heero's eighteenth birthday celebration, Duo reminded himself, although the true date would never be known. Relena had felt that accomplishment was significant, and deserved some attention.  
  
Duo wondered if she'd realized that the party had took place exactly three years after the Gundam's decent to Earth. She had been murdered on her birthday--an event that the papers had curiously never thought to add to its sorrowful tale of the martyered princess.  
  
Relena would have been eighteen now. It was funny how she had thrown Heero a birthday party, and completely forgot to plan her own. Not only that, but she'd forgotten the last two years also, being so busy with her job--she had been lucky to get the weekend off. No wonder the papers had forgotten. It wasn't exactly a well-known fact. The public seemed to always forget that she was, in fact, a human being, with feelings and birthdays and limits and death.  
  
But, enough--he could feel the mental restraints weakening with every thought.  
  
=================================================================================================  
  
At the first sign of Duo's awakening, Hilde left the chair forgotten and stood directly beside the bed, staring at Duo's face, and feeling the fear she felt the day before--would the sight of her cause a relapse to hysteria?  
  
It took quite a while, but she eventually gathered the courage to reach out with one hand to touch one delicate cheekbone.  
  
Duo's eyes snapped open at the contact, and he stared at her for a few moments before actually seeing her, but his gaze did focus on her face--more accuratly, her blackened eye.  
  
A terrible sound tore free from Duo's lips, a mixture of scream and moan. He took a few deep, tortured breaths before slowly reaching up to run his fingers across the bruise. When Hilde gasped and flinched away in pain, his eyes teared over, hand dropping to the side.  
  
"Oh, God...oh, God, Hilde, baby...I'm so...I'm so sorry..."  
  
"D-Duo..." Hilde choked out, then leapt forward, tears overflowing, into his arms, and they held each other for a long while, apologizing and forgiving in tears, and reconciliation was the most beautiful relief there was, when two souls met halfway, accepting the past as it was and promising the future as it would be. Everything was alive with hope now.  
  
They were going to be alright.  
  
=================================================================================================  
  
It was nearly an hour later when Hilde left for the bathroom, and Quatre took the chance to step inside.  
  
Duo's red-rimmed gaze rolled over to watch him, glazed--he would need to sleep more soon.  
  
"Quatre, buddy, do I look as terrible as I feel?" Duo inquired, rubbing at his eyes, granting instant relief that would only add to the irritation later.  
  
The Winner heir allowed himself a brief smile. "Actually, since the doctors are very optimistic about your recovery, I would bet money that you're the most attractive person living here at the moment."  
  
"That's not much of a compliment," Duo replied, chuckling softly, and the room plummetted into an awkward silence.  
  
"You want to...know," Duo said, somberly, minutes later, "don't you?"  
  
"Yes," Quatre replied, swallowing against the dread, "I do."  
  
Duo turned his head away, closing his eyes. "I needed to get it off my chest anyway--before I told the wrong person. I...I don't think you're the 'right' person, but...you're better than some reporter, huh?"  
  
He was silent for a few moments, allowing his thoughts to gather. "It was about nine--wasn't it?--when Relena sent us back to our guestrooms for a head start on a good night's sleep. I remember complaining to her about it, but she wouldn't back down. She knew we'd pulled an all-nighter in her absense the night before, at Heero's party. It turned out that she was right. I was out like a light the moment my head hit the pillow. But I didn't stay that way. None of us did.  
  
"I don't know when I woke up, but I remember hearing a wierd noise, like the clanging of metal. I'd gotten up and opened the door to the hall. When I looked out, I saw Heero with his back to me, walking away. I called out to him, but I guess he didn't hear me. He turned the corner without a word.  
  
"At the moment, I thought he was putting the finishing touches on Relena's birthday present--being me, I thought it was something kinky. It was her eighteeth birthday, after all. I went back to bed, but I heard him make a few more trips..." Duo carried off.  
  
"What is it, Duo?" Quatre forced out, then held his breath for the horror that was sure to come.  
  
"So many trips..." Duo whispered. "I wondered what he could have made that would require so much paint, but, it wasn't paint, was it?  
  
"That bucket had been filled with blood. Relena's blood..."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Author's Notes:  
  
1. Wahhhh....I missed this story so much... ;_; I wanted to write quicker, and post a whole lot sooner, but....STUPID SCHOOL!  
  
2. I wuv this story.  
  
3. I love confusing people. And scaring them. And disturbing them. And misleading them... (mwahahahahahaha....)  
  
4. I'm going to miss this story so much when I finish it. ;_; There's only one more chapter and the epilogue left! NOOOOOOOO~!!! (Oh, well. The epilogue will be huge, and take a long time to write. It might even be longer than the rest of the story combined. O_o)  
  
5. Well, I hope everyone enjoyed this early Christmas present. Maybe I'll finish it in time for next Christmas! :D But the next chapter should be updated in less than a month--I actually wrote an outline for it already! Happy holidays everyone!  
  
~Nin 


	6. The Five Steps of Self Destruction

Pet Peeve  
  
by  
  
Nin Tendo  
  
Chapter 5 - The Five Steps to Self Destruction  
  
~Disclaimer~ Y'know, I think it's a good thing that I don't own Gundam Wing. I mean, look at my dumbass stories!  
  
================  
  
Wufei's face was an unhealthy gray, Sally noticed. His eyes were hard and focused, but his adam's apple bobbed up and down in his throat in a frail attempt to ease his nausia.  
  
He needed a break, but Satan himself would make a dozen snow angels before Wufei admitted a weakness.  
  
Sally wasn't looking forward to cleaning up any messes, so she decided to swallow her own pride to safeguard his. "Wufei, I need to sit down before I puke. Come with me so I can complain to someone about this stupid job that Une gave us."  
  
"Weakling," Wufei replied, although the word was void of its usual malice, replaced by a form of relief. He dropped his equipment in a hurry, quickly joining her to sit in the shade, noticing two of his coworkers picking up where he'd left off.  
  
Unlike Duo Maxwell, who's face had been widely publicized during the Eve Wars, Heero Yuy had managed to duck beneath the media's radar, and his status as a Gundam pilot had merely become one of the paper's favorite rumors, created along with the Yuy-Darlian love affair. However, as this was merely speculation--and had been shot down by the well-trusted Relena Darlian herself--Heero's participation in the war had remained classified and the general public would never know the true identity of Wing's pilot.  
  
Much like the public itself, the general police force did not have a file on Heero Yuy, unlike the Preventors (and what a detailed file it was), and Une was determined to keep it that way. If it were ever confirmed that Heero had ended an untold number of lives during the war, there would be no doubt that it would influence the jury's decision. They would forget the era of peace that he had helped to create, and prosecute him for his actions. That was unacceptable.  
  
Thus, the general police's job was to follow the trail and secure it from any outside forces, a complicated job, especially when the trail spanned over hundreds of city blocks, where nosebleeds and other small injuries inadvertingly crossed paths with their suspect's, adding uncountable routes to the maze. And then there was the one trail that disappeared into the woods--the police had focused on that one, but it was infinitely harder to track.  
  
And, as Lady Une had refused to give the police something as simple as a blood sample, the Preventors were given the task of verification. In short, it was their job to confirm that each and every single drop of blood along the trail matched the DNA of Heero Yuy.  
  
Wufei, Sally, and the rest of the Preventor team weren't exactly crazy about scraping blood samples off the streets and running in through their DNA database.  
  
"What a stupid job," Sally complained, as promised. "Any idiot could do this--why did Une send trained professionals?"  
  
"It would have cost way too much money for HQ to create a new database sans delicate information for the police to use," Wufei replied, feeling better already. "Money that our organization lacks. We're just lucky that the police don't suspect something other than the usual annoying procedure. They're too busy securing the area and pitying us."  
  
"So we were sent to scrape blood off the sidewalk," Sally sighed, then picked up a more conversational tone. "All that talk about blood reminds me: did you take a look at the complete forensic report yet?"  
  
"No, I was going to wait until later so I could savor it," Wufei drawled, as sarcastic as he'd ever been.  
  
Sally allowed herself a brief smile. "It was just as I figured. There is no evidence that even remotely points toward a possible suspect. Of course the police would go after him."  
  
Another thorough job performed by Heero Yuy, Wufei thought, face paling.  
  
"What is it, Wufei?" Sally asked, noting her partner's reaction.  
  
"Nothing," Wufei replied, quickly. "Just something Trowa said once. What else did you want to tell me?"  
  
"Well, it may be somewhat of a surprise to hear, but," she paused, "Relena wasn't pregnant after all."  
  
"Hmm?" Wufei grunted, a little startled, but readily accepted the information. "But that really doesn't change anything, does it? Just makes the entire thing just a little less horrible in the moral sense. Relena still had a reason to believe she was pregnant--she took the test--which means that she lost her virginity someway or another."  
  
"Or believed that she had lost her virginity," Sally supplied, still willing to believe in Relena's innocence. "We can't rule out substances that result in memory loss or false memories."  
  
Wufei actually chuckled. "Why is it so hard to believe, Sally? She was an adult woman--she had the rights, the hormones, and the equipment of every other adult woman on the planet. What makes her so different? Because she was a politician? I don't know about you, Sally, but I see those types of scandals on the television nearly every day."  
  
It was a point that made Sally's voice die in her throat and her teeth prick her lips.  
  
A foot fell beside the Preventor agents and they looked up to see the chief of police standing before them.  
  
"Preventor Water and Dragon," he announced, "I believe we've found the end of the trail. Please follow me so you can verify the blood sample. Then we can finally close this unsavory case."  
  
Wufei and Sally looked at each other, standing up relunctantly, brushing themselves off. They both knew in their hearts that they should be happy to hear of the investigation closing, but there was still a keen sense of dread. For all their need of closure, they still cowered from their duty.  
  
But they did stand and walk, because, in strong hearts, the need for truth would always reign over fear.  
  
==============================  
  
Laundry wasn't something Quatre did frequently, but in the wake of his relunctant holiday, he had felt it best to dismiss his servants on paid leave. Perhaps the monotony of household chores would occupy him until the end of his sentence.  
  
But, really, what a mess he'd made yesterday, after that unfortunate meeting with Dorothy. He had been so disgusted that he'd torn off his clothes, littering his room in a furious attempt to calm down enough to have a short afternoon nap. He felt pity for his maids for having to clean up after him, but he was glad to have caught them before they had attempted to get the wrinkles out. Why should his immature behavior make their job harder?  
  
Ever since his youth, when he had accidently left a favorite toy in his pants, ruining it in the washing machine, Quatre had been very careful to empty his pockets before undressing. That day after Dorothy, however, had been an exception.  
  
It was fortunate that he was the one doing the laundry today.  
  
================================  
  
"How is Zechs?" Quatre asked the numb-looking Noin.  
  
"He's sleeping," Noin replied. "He's been in bed ever since yestersay. He hasn't eaten. He hasn't even spoken to me."  
  
That's odd, Quatre mused. I would have expected him forcing his presence on the murder investigation...  
  
"He's...drained," Noin continued. "He'd woken once since arriving. But his eyes are just...blank."  
  
He's lost, Quatre rationalized. He's lost his sister, the one person he'd vowed to protect forever, and failed.  
  
"If you wanted to talk to him," Noin concluded, "I'm afraid it's impossible."  
  
"That's fine, Miss Noin," Quatre replied. "I didn't really come here for conversation. I, uh...I came for closure, I guess." He was lying through his teeth, but he had no desire to include Noin or anyone else in this mis-adventure, especially if it turned out that it was just a wild goose chase. He nervously cleared his throat.  
  
Noin bit her lip. "Well...well, the police aren't done with Relena's room, so..."  
  
"Actually," Quatre cut her off, "I was thinking about visiting her office. I wasn't as close to her personally as professionally. And it would be nice to have some time to myself, if it isn't too much trouble."  
  
"No, no," Noin responded, quickly. "It's no trouble at all. The police have already been through there with a fine tooth comb. They found nothing."  
  
"Thank you, Noin," Quatre breathed in relief, bowing his head to her before going on his way. He, himself, had been there many times, although, more often for business than not, which troubled him.  
  
Secretly, though, there was always something that bothered him about this room. Aparently, his instincts hadn't failed him.  
  
He passed by one door, covered in police tape, and continued on. Around the corner awaited a long hallway of doors, the guestrooms he remembered from his short stay nearly a week ago. He paused at the sense of deja vu before passing by and turning one last corner, revealing two doors. It was the second he was looking for.  
  
Quatre opened the door, entered, and slowly, carefully, closed it again. Many memories rose to the surface about sitting in this room with his attendant and Relena, talking about business-related things that he now wished had been a little less impersonal, but he forced them out of his head immediately.  
  
Relena Darlian's office was hardly spacious, and most definitely not the technology-blessed haven most people believed it to be. A simple desk and three small chairs were the only sign of furniture in the room and the only piece of true technology, a single sercurity camera in the upper right-hand corner.  
  
The police had looked over the tape and had found nothing of importance during the period of time between Relena's last sighting and the blood-curdling scream that awoke everyone in the mansion.  
  
The camera's position monitered the room in its entirety. The one and only door was never out its viewing range. Unless the video had been tampered with, what he was looking for wasn't here.  
  
Quatre pulled the note out of his pocket, looking for a clue that he hadn't noticed during the last few hundred examinations.  
  
You know, read the note, I'm surprised that the police overlooked the room between her office and bathroom.  
  
The problem was, there wasn't a room between the office and bathroom.  
  
...Or so everyone thought...  
  
Quatre exited the office and peered back down the hallway, toward the bathroom. The door was approximately three meters away, far enough to allow the existance of another--though, seriously cramped--room, but not quite far enough to inspire suspicion in the ordinary passer-by.  
  
He let his hand trail the wall as he crossed the distance between the doors. Halfway across, his fingers found a small, barely perceptable indentation in the white paint. He followed the line up the wall, but finding the top beyond his reach, followed it back down to the floor instead. His index finger fell on the wooden lining between the wall and carpet, and he was only slightly surprised when a small area of the wood sunk into the floor under the weight of his finger.  
  
Quatre stood up and watched as the wall folded inward with a creak, and, with no small amount of trepidation, stepped inside.  
  
It was a secondary security room. One wall was covered with television sets, intercepting the visual feed from all the security cameras in the building. A desk and chair sat before those screens. How many hours had Heero Yuy himself sat there?  
  
And there, in the partial illumination of the black and white television screens, a small book lay in plain view.  
  
Quatre stepped forward and picked up the book. It was a diary. Flipping through it, he found the handwriting too faint to read in the partial light. Heading back the way he came, Quatre found a light switch and turned it on. As an afterthought, he stepped on the not-so-hidden button that closed the door from the inside.  
  
Turning back to the book, Quatre knew that he shouldn't have been surprised, but no matter how much he had expected it, nothing could have prepared himself for the sight of Relena Darlian's handwriting.  
  
All at once the surpressed emotions rose in his soul. Grief bit at him, his eyes filled, overflowed, and all feeling in his legs vanished, leaving him to sink to his knees.  
  
'I am constantly surrounded by people, but a terrible loneliness still eats away at me. I could have all the material possessions that anyone could ever want, but none of it would make me feel less alone. My life is so busy. Everything is work. I have no time for anything else. I want to spend time with my friends, but that is impossible. I have to stay here and make peace a reality. Even if I did have the time, I wouldn't really be talking to them. Relena the government officer claims superiority over Relena the human being.'  
  
There were no dates in this journal. It seemed that Relena began on a new page for every entry. Quatre skipped a quarter way through, wiped the moisture from his face with a forearm, and continued to read.  
  
'I don't know how much more of this I can take. I feel like I'm dying inside. I can't do this. I need people. I need my family. I need my friends. The need grows deeper every day. Milliardo, Noin, Duo, Hilde, Quatre...everyone. I need them so much. And, I need, I need him so much it's killing me.'  
  
Her tone had gone from grudging acceptance to a depression she was desperate to rid herself of. When had that changed? Why hadn't he noticed it? Quatre, out of all the former Gundam pilots. was the only one able to see and speak to her on a regular basis. Not to mention his finely tuned empathic abilities. Why hadn't he noticed the change? Quatre shook the thoughts from his head and turned to the approximate middle of the diary.  
  
'I can't take this anymore. This life is destroying me. I've found my father's old stash of alchohol and I've been getting myself drunk more and more often these days. I know it's unhealthy and a terrible thing for me to do, but it is the only thing that works. When I get drunk, nothing presses me down, nothing stresses me out. I am free. I am free to do as I please. I am free because I can't remeber anything in the morning. But I still feel awful. God, if you're listening, I'm so sorry for whatever I've done to deserve this. Please, I'll do anything to be happy again, to be normal again. I'll stop drinking, I'll do whatever you want! I just want to be free again. I would even forget all about Heero if he would just leave me alone.'  
  
Quatre could only stare in shock. Relena had been an alcoholic? But, when had that happened? Why was it that he'd never even suspected any of these emotions that had caused her such distress? And what did she mean by Heero not leaving her alone? What had he been doing to her?  
  
The explanation came easy. Heero had once remarked that he would protect her from the shadows. Apparently, judging by the hidden room, he had been doing just that. The room placement was of strategic value (being at the relative center of the mansion and right next to the room Relena spent most of her time in) and it had to have been built before Relena even moved back in to her childhood home. It would have been easy for Heero to influence the right people to get the job done, and even easier to dispose of any evidence of the room's existence.  
  
In this room, he could moniter the entire house and be in prime position to react to any and all threats against his unknowing charge. Not to mention that, with his knowledge of the camera positioning and personal guard strategy, he would be able to prevent her real security team from detecting him.  
  
More amd more, Quatre wished that Relena hadn't decided to get rid of the security camera in her room. If she hadn't, he would be able to confirm Duo's story. He still wasn't sure if he wanted to believe his former comrade or not, and a clear yes or no would do much for his uncertainty.  
  
But now was not the time to think about that. Quatre Raberba Winner was finally meeting the real Relena Darlian.  
  
He flipped throught the remaining pages quickly, eager to get to the last entry, but too scared to read it immediately. He waited for an entry to get his attention, and, eventually, one of them did. The fact that it was in bold, capital letters helped quite a bit.  
  
'STOP HIDING FROM ME GODDAMMIT. I KNOW YOURE THERE AND YOU KNOW THAT I KNOW YOURE THERE SO WHY DONT YOU STOP FOOLING YOURSELF AND FACE ME. YOURE PROBABLY READING THIS TOO YOU BASTARD. IM DRUNK AND AWFUL AND ITS YOUR FAULT BECAUSE YOURE TOO INSECURE TO HAVE A NORMAL CONVERSATION WITH ME. I SEE THE DOOR CLOSE WHEN I TURN THE CORNER. I SEE THE SHADOW ON MY BALCONY. I AM WRETCHED AND DRUNK AND I HATE YOU HEERO YUY.'  
  
Quatre inhaled sharply. Despite the details he hadn't contributed, he had almost expected his own name at the end of that entry. All the maybes and what ifs plaqued him. Could he have made a difference? Was Quatre Raberba Winner's absence in a time of need the reason Relena Darlian had turned to the bottle? Had he given her the needed assistance, would that horrible weekend have turned out differently?  
  
The thought was destroying him.  
  
Quatre continued to let the pages flip beneath his fingers until he neared the end and the few pages left were trapped beneath his thumb. He read the visible entry.  
  
'I've decided that I'm going to be fine. I'm not going to let something as stupid as selfish loneliness stop me from doing my job. I don't care anymore. If drinking makes me feel better, I'll drink. Everyone else can just go to hell.'  
  
If anything, this entry, although the shortest and most to the point, was the one that was the most heartbreaking. Relena's depression and anger had given way to apathy and the absolute denial to feel. She had become empty and cold. How could it be true? She had seemed happy enough at the party that weekend...  
  
Quatre's entire body shook once with a deeply buried sob. The last of the pages were released from his thumb, which caught again on the rear cover. At least twenty of the last pages had been torn from the book, leaving a wide gap of shredded paper.  
  
He read the last entry, stared, and lost the little lunch he'd managed to take in.  
  
============================  
  
Lucretia Noin hadn't seen Quatre for at least an hour, and she was beginning to become concerned. Zechs was still unconscious and staring at the nearly unmoving body on the bed reminded her of other unmoving bodies she had seen over the course of her lifetime. The thought of a friend taking his own life suddenly occured to her and it threw her into a panic.  
  
Running down the hallways, she finally reached Relena's former office, where Quatre had said he was going, and hesitantly opened the door. "Quatre?" she inquired, stepping inside and looking around. No one was there.  
  
She stood there for a while, wondering where he had gone, wondering if he'd left without telling her, when, suddenly, she heard the door creak behind her. She turned to find the pale-faced former pilot standing in the doorway.  
  
"Quatre?" she asked, carefully, noting the odd expression on his face.  
  
"I think you should call the police," he replied. "I found something."  
  
He took her by the arm and led her outside the office.  
  
The sight of an open door where there had never been one was so surreal, that Noin, in denial, refused to believe that it was even there until it refused to vanish before her blinking eyes.  
  
"Quatre?" she said again.  
  
He wordlessly pointed into the room, to the far corner, where, next to an empty plug-in, a bloodied bucket lay on its side in a pool of dried life.  
  
Noin slapped a hand to her mouth and backed away, breaking from Quatre's grip. She inhaled sharply against her palm before turning and running back down the hallway in search of a phone.  
  
Quatre waited until she was out of sight before removing the diary from his inside jacket pocket. It was only slightly larger than a paperback novel so he had no trouble concealing it.  
  
The diary shook in his grip. He quickly replaced it in his pocket before clasping his hands together in an attempt to stop the shaking.  
  
Removing evidence from a crime scene. What he was about to do was illegal. Painfully illegal. But...  
  
But he would rather die than let this diary get into the hands of the media, the police. He would rather rot in jail. He would rather slowly dying inside for the rest of his lifetime before allowing the general public to know what Relena Darlian had become. She was dead, nothing would change that, and the deceased deserved better than a public scandal that would destroy everything she had ever fought for. The public would lose faith in their leaders. They would be slow to trust the next politician with similar beliefs. Peace would be set back once again because no one would trust it.  
  
Yes. It made so much more sense this way. The people would continue to work for peace in her absense. It was a debt of honor now. The world would embrace peace in her memory.  
  
And the truth would remain solely in Quatre Raberba Winner's possession until the day he died.  
  
========================  
  
When she broke through the bush and into the clearing, Sally Po was instantly hit with a sense of deja vu.  
  
The awful kind.  
  
Her thoughts travelled back in time, to her brief employment in the Alliance military. The day she'd captured perhaps the most unpredictable of the Gundam pilots. The day she'd added his DNA signature to the Alliance intelligence database, which allowed her to confirm his path to this very spot on this very day.  
  
The day that Heero Yuy jumped out of a window of a hospital built on a cliff. Intent on suicide, only Relena Darlian's voice had broken through his defenses, startling him enough to release the parachute.  
  
But Relena wasn't here. She hadn't been here today.  
  
In the clearing that led to the ocean she saw that dwindling trail of blood suddenly becoming thick again where a mangled, empty, golden frame had dug into skin when he'd torn the picture from its grip and abandoned it in the mud.  
  
Sally looked up to see the approaching sunset and the cliff that mocked her.  
  
===========================  
  
Drained, Quatre returned to his mansion and sat on his couch, stiffly. Slowly, he removed his jacket, and carefully pulled the diary free. It sat on his lap, taunting him.  
  
It hadn't been difficult to break the law. Noin, in her grief, had become blind to any suspicious behavior. She had always reminded Quatre of a mother--a mother he'd never had. Her life had been devoted to taking care of people and helping them out. Especially Zechs. In this time of suffering, that maternal devotion ruled her thoughts. Quatre sincerely hoped that it would be enough to help the man through his grief.  
  
He hoped that there would be enough acceptance left over for himself, but doubted that at the same time.  
  
Anyway, convincing Noin that he was tired and needed rest wasn't the hardest thing he'd ever done. He hadn't needed to fake his grief much, preventing a much greater moral dilemma. Quatre knew that the police would eventually call him for a follow-up witness statement (they'd done it that one awful weekend) but he wasn't too worried. He would just tell them that he'd stubbed his toe on the wall, or maybe kicked it out of anger, or maybe just tell them the truth about the note Dorothy left in his pants and let her deal with the police. What was she up to, anyway? What did she know?  
  
Tired of thinking, Quatre picked up the diary and dropped it on the endtable, accidently hitting the power button on the remote, turning on the TV. Quatre's eyes glued to the screen as it tuned into the middle of a news program.  
  
The scene was shot from a helicopter hovering beside the edge of a cliff, with a reporter doing a voice-over. "...Where the DNA trail of murder suspect Heero Yuy came to a dramatic end. The police and preventer agents arrived here earlier this evening only to find that all their questions would remain unanswered."  
  
The scene switched to a reporter standing close to the freefall, interviewing a police officer. "Is there any evidence that Mr. Yuy did not leap from this cliff and is still at large?"  
  
The officer shook his head without hesitation. "The soil on this cliff is mostly clay, so it was still full of moisture when our suspect arrived, and we can clearly see his footprints in the mud. There were no footprints leaving the scene. We've measured the distance between his steps and we've concluded that he broke into a run toward the edge. His last step, on the last few centemeters of earth, dug deeply into the ground, telling us that he did not hesitate, he did not waver, he put all his weight into diving off this cliff, like a professional long jumper would."  
  
The reporter seemed to be determined to reassure the public that the alledged murderer was dead. "Is there any way that Mr. Yuy could have survived the fall?"  
  
Again, the officer surely shook his head. "Our suspect walked clear across town on an empty stomach, no apparent rest stops, and a steadily decreasing blood supply. Even if he'd managed to survive the fall itself, the current is very strong here. He would have been sucked to the bottom in no time, and dragged into the middle of the ocean. We have had other people jumping from this cliff, and we have yet to find any of their bodies, so we aren't keeping our hopes up of ever finding his. Even if he'd managed to fight the current for a while, this cliffside runs for miles in both directions, and perpendicular to the water only at the best of times. Climbing out would be like scaling an upside down pyramid. And our suspect definitely did not have any of the necessary mountain gear on him to achieve that. Eventually, his strength would have given out and he would have drowned."  
  
The reporter quickly summarized the events, but Quatre was too stunned to listen properly. All he could see was the picture frame in the mud, and, after the scene switched briefly to the helicopter again, a hospital robe caught on the cliffside, swaying in the wind.  
  
Eventually, the anchorman appeared on screen. He was silent for a moment before regaining his voice and announced to the Earth Sphere, "This was not the closure that many of our citizens may have expected, but now the Earth and colonies may rest easy once more. The murderer of Relena Darlian has been put to death." He took a deep breath. "We will return in just a moment with the rest of today's news. Stay tuned for the details of our government's plan to seriously pursue the ideals of our fallen vice-foreign minister and the unexpected disappearance of the late Duke Dermail's grand-daughter, Dorothy Catalonia."  
  
As the commercials came on, Quatre was left staring at the television set.  
  
Heero was dead and Dorothy was missing. The police hadn't known that Dorothy had been involved somehow, allowing her to escape unnoticed. No one had witnessed her take the picture, no one had seen her at the hospital, no one except him, Quatre Raberba Winner, and now it was too late to make a difference.  
  
Had she been playing him from the beginning? Planning everything? Manipulating everyone?  
  
Had she caused Relena to do what she did, causing Heero to react the way he did, causing the world to respond the way it did?  
  
The thought shocked and disgusted him.  
  
Quatre jerked to the side for the remote and accidently knocked the diary to the floor, opening to the last page for him to unintentionally read the shaky, nearly incomprehensive handwriting below.  
  
'I'm so sorry. Heero, I'm so sorry. God, these words seem so hollow and shallow when I write them but my chest is burning with this terrible guilt and the need to be forgiven. And after what I've done, I don't deserve forgiveness. I deserve death. I deserve life in prison. I don't deserve to see the light of day. I will never deserve forgiveness and I hope it will never be offered to me because Heero doesn't deserve that. After what I did, he has the right to do whatever he wants to me. He has the right to go to the police. He has the right to kill me.  
  
Please, Heero. Oh, God, Heero, please kill me.  
  
People should have the right to kill their rapists.'  
  
Quatre screamed, and cried.  
  
Author's Notes:  
  
1. As much as I would enjoy detailing Quatre's slow decent into madness...no, I think I'll just stick to the plan and write the epilogue which takes place one year later. (And by the way I procrastinate, it will probably be posted a year later, too.) But everything WILL be explained, one way or another. I might even detail on the rape scene if I feel brave enough. ;p  
  
2. Hopefully, a few of you will catch the meaning behind the title. Oh, I am so sly. :p  
  
3. Now Gub will be on my ass for the chapter that will be longer than the rest of the story combined. Sigh. (runs away when she's not looking) 


End file.
